Matthews to Skeptical Congressman: 'Are You a Luddite, a Troglodyte?'

MSNBC “Hardball” host Chris Matthews used personal attacks against a Congressman and accused the GOP of being anti-science on his May 20 program

In a segment about global warming, Matthews interviewed Reps. Jim Moran, D-Va., and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., who had opposing views on the issue. But Matthews introduced Rohrabacher, the global warming skeptic, as someone ignorant of science.

“Congressman Rohrabacher, are you a Luddite, a troglodyte? Are you a part of ‘The Planet of the Apes’ that doesn’t want science? Where would you place yourself in this argument?” Matthews asked.

Rohrabacher stated his position and cited a Rasmussen poll that Matthews dismissed as a “Republican poll.”

“I would place myself in the – in the position of being someone who’s willing to speak the truth while the rest of the – while the rest of the people are being fed a bunch of baloney,” Rohrabacher said. “Let me just note this to you, Chris – the poll you quoted was wrong. That’s an old poll. The Rasmussen – the latest Rasmussen poll shows that a vast majority of the American people do not believe that the climate is changing due to human activity.”

Later in the segment, Matthews used the global warming debate to probe a so-called ”cultural divide” between the two political parties and portrayed Republicans as faith-based and unscientific.

“Is there a cultural divide between the two parties that goes beyond this issue, where one party is more traditional in its values and it relies more on faith than on science?” Matthews asked Rohrabacher. “For example, we’ve had people on this program – I’m sure they’re all over the country – who don’t believe in evolution. They don’t believe in biology the way it’s taught.”

Rohrabacher didn’t take the bait and called Matthews out for his portrayal of the GOP.

“Chris, that’s a good way to shut down the argument. Case closed,” Rohrabacher said.

Despite Matthews’ unwillingness to accept any contrary point-of-view on the global warming debate as “science,” there are hundreds of scientists that question the premise of man-caused global warming trotted out as “consensus” by the news media. A report released by the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Dec. 22, 2008 listed more than 650 prominent scientists questioning the hype surrounding global warming alarmism.

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